


The Date

by neevebrody



Category: Boa vs. Python (2004), Thoughtcrimes
Genre: First Time, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-10-19
Updated: 2009-10-19
Packaged: 2017-10-03 15:48:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,356
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19780
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/neevebrody/pseuds/neevebrody
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Emmett looked thoughtful and Brendan figured anyone who had to think about it that long couldn't be having much fun at all.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Date

Four days. Four days that felt like forty. Brendan thought of how Harper had smiled and clapped him on the back when sending him off on this assignment. Yeah, right. Just the man for the job, my ass. But he supposed it was better than saying I'm sending you to godforsaken Elkins, West Virginia to babysit an eccentric herpetologist. Protective custody? Who was going to protect Brendan… from losing his mind? Though, he had to admit, the big snakes were pretty cool, especially Betty.

He stopped in the main lobby of the Longreen Snake Reserve, looking over some of the certificates and photos on the wall there. Granted, there were a few good things about this gig. The doc kept good beer, lived in a great place behind the Reserve, had a beautiful view and he could cook like nobody's business. In fact, Emmett wasn't so bad really. Brendan liked a dry sense of humor, and if you got Emmett started on the subject of snakes or his research, it was kind of fun to watch his face contort in gleeful animation while his hands tried to keep up. Of course, other than that, he'd been pretty quiet.

Continuing on his second patrol circuit of the evening, Brendan wasn't surprised to find the doc in his office, the lamp on his desk the only illumination. Brendan flipped the wall switch. "You'll ruin your eyes." Yeah, those amazing blue eyes.

Emmett looked up and seemed irritated by Brendan's presence. Brendan got the impression Emmett wasn't used to having people around. "It may shock you to know this, Agent Dean, but I've been getting along fine here for quite a while now without any help from you or the NSA, and—"

"Don't look a gift agent in the mouth, doc." Brendan leaned in the doorway. "I'm betting you've never had your life threatened before either. I've got a job to do and I intend to do it—with or without your cooperation."

"Well, let me…" Emmett glanced at his watch. "Damn, I've missed the feedings." He made to get up, but Brendan stopped him.

"It's okay, the kid did it before he left." Spencer was a local who helped out around the Reserve after school. "Listen, do you ever _not_ work?"

Emmett smiled, and that simple act loosened something warm inside Brendan. "The work I do here is very important…"

"Yeah, yeah, I got that… but don't you… what do you do for fun?"

Emmett looked thoughtful and Brendan figured anyone who had to think about it that long couldn't be having much fun at all. The doc shook his head. "I don't know… go into town, grab a few beers, listen to the guys jaw over things at The Hunt Club."

"Then let's do it."

"What, now? You and me?"

"Doc, it's not even nine o'clock. You got a curfew or something? We'll get a couple of burgers, have a few beers. How about it?"

"But, I thought I was supposed to stay—"

"I'll be with you the whole time." Brendan raised his brows and tilted his head. Freya had possibly told him one too many times how that expression couldn't be challenged, but he added a little smile all the same. Better to give the doc the full effect.

"Sure," Emmett said, finally. "Let's go." He stood and slipped out of his lab coat. The movement tightened Brendan's chest a little as the doc turned around to hang the coat on the rack, the way the muscles shifted beneath the tight tee shirt. Brendan swallowed hard and tried not to notice the spread of the doc's shoulders, but, damn, it was pretty hard to miss. That and the way the doc's hair curled at the back of his neck. Every time he noticed it, Brendan wondered if it felt as soft as it looked.

He shifted his gaze quickly as Emmett turned back. Jesus, Dean, get a grip.

Things were kind of slow at The Hunt Club. Emmett had introduced him to the regulars and he felt better knowing he was up to date on the all the doings in and around Elkins. At least no one had noticed any strangers in town and Brendan had a hunch the regulars would be the first ones to get that word.

Despite the appetite-dampening affects of Mr. Darnell's apparent aversion to modern dentistry, the food was good, but if Brendan never heard another voice with a twang, it would be too soon. Driving back, he took a sideways glance at Emmett. The doc had been good company and Brendan had even managed to pry a few smiles out of him and get him talking about something other than his work. He'd learned all about Emmett's little sister, how Emmett had played baseball as a kid, and, of course, saving Betty. Technically, that last was about work, but the way Emmett told it, the story had been pretty exciting.

Yep, one more Bud and one too many three-chord, tears-in-your-beer song, and the doc had talked about a lot of things. Like his bad luck in relationships with women… men, too, apparently, if he'd read all the hints and slipped pronouns right. Brendan wasn't sure why that should make his pulse throb or his breathing shallow, but for sure, the job had just gotten a hell of a lot more interesting.

Back at the Reserve, Brendan pulled Emmett's truck around back and lent a helpful hand getting Emmett onto the porch. He wasn't shit-faced or anything, just endearingly tipsy. The doc fumbled with the keys in Brendan's hand, trying to show him the right one in the light from the single bulb beside the door.

"This one," he said, looking into Brendan's eyes, but he didn't let go of the key, relaxing his hand instead so that it rested against Brendan's wrist. "Thanks. I had a good time." Emmett's voice was soft, his eyes a deeper blue in the dim glow. "You know, it hasn't escaped me that you're bored to death out here and that you think I'm just some stuffy academic you have to look out after, but tonight… tonight was really nice. I enjoyed tal-"

Damn. The doc had him at "this one" and Brendan knew it. Trying to stop things now would be like trying to sneak old man Darnell's tin of Skoal, so why fight it. Emmett's mouth was as warm and soft as his voice and Brendan didn't mind at all the way the doc had slipped his arms around his waist or the way he was kissing back, teasing his way slowly into Brendan's mouth, making Brendan's head light and filling out the front of his jeans. He tried to pull away to unlock the door, but Emmett chased his lips and pulled him back in.

And, God, those arms and shoulders were strong when the doc meant business. Brendan quickly found himself pinned against the rough lapboard siding, which must have startled Emmett, because he broke the kiss immediately. "We need to go inside," he said, all kinds of want coloring his words, his eyes clear and steady.

This date was better than any Brendan had been on in recent memory, and he really didn't want anything that might happen to be just about the beer or the fact that the doc hadn't been laid in a while. Hell, _he_ hadn't been laid in… well, too damn long. There was still a job to do, after all, and as of right now, Emmett was still his charge. His own hand fumbled with the lock before getting the door opened and following Emmett inside. Maybe just a nice little make-out session in front of that big plate glass window, with the stars and that big, yellow harvest moon for a background. Then he'd make sure Emmett was all tucked in before taking up watch.

There was plenty of time to see how far this might go. The custody wouldn't be forever, but that protection thing… Brendan had a feeling that might be something that would last way beyond the end of the job.


End file.
